Iran Calls Nuclear Weapons ‘Unacceptable’ As UN Warns Uranium Stockpile Nears Weapons-Grade

A UN report reveals Iran has significantly increased its stockpile of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels, reaching 408.6 kg by May 17th, a 50% increase since February.

Iran Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.

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A confidential report by the United Nations nuclear watchdog said on Saturday that Iran has further increased its stockpile of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels. The agency, in a separate report, said that the agency called on Tehran to urgently change course and comply with its years-long probe.

According to AP, quoting the report by the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency, as of May 17, Iran has amassed 408.6 kilograms (900.8 pounds) of uranium enriched up to 60%. That’s an increase of 133.8 kilograms (294.9 pounds) — or almost 50% — since the IAEA’s last report in February, the report further added.

The report by the IAEA raised a warning saying that Iran is now “the only non-nuclear-weapon state to produce such material” — something the agency said was of “serious concern.”

The IAEA report also estimated that as of May 17, Iran’s overall stockpile of enriched uranium – which includes uranium enriched to lower levels – stood at 9,247.6 kilograms (20,387.4 pounds). That’s an increase of 953.2 kilograms (2,101.4 pounds) since February’s report.

According to the AP report, Iran has maintained its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only. But the IAEA chief, Rafael Mariano Grossi, has warned that Tehran has enough uranium enriched to near-weapons-grade levels to make several nuclear bombs if it chose to do so.

The Iranian officials have increasingly suggested that Tehran could pursue an atomic bomb. The intelligence agencies of the US assess that Iran has yet to begin a weapons program but has “undertaken activities that better position it to produce a nuclear device, if it chooses to do so.”

Iran Considers Nuclear Weapons Unacceptable: Abbas Araghchi

The Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, meanwhile, said that Iran considers nuclear weapons "unacceptable", reiterating the country's longstanding position amid delicate negotiations with the United States. 

(With inputs from AP.)